Chancellor accused of 'Stalinist ruthlessness' by top civil servant

Last updated at 14:39 20 March 2007

Gordon Brown was battered today by former mandarins who attacked his character and leadership abilities.

The devastating barrage began with a former head of the civil service, Lord Turnbull, dubbing him a "Stalinist" who belittles Cabinet members, treats colleagues with "complete contempt" and shirks unpopular decisions.

He was followed by Tony Blair's former European policy adviser Sir Stephen Wall, who went further by declaring that Labour Party members should take Mr Brown's character faults into account when voting for the next leader and Prime Minister.

The ferocity of such "Sir Humphrey" figures normally noted for their discretion left MPs open-jawed with surprise and were a gift to the Chancellor's political enemies.

They came on the eve of Mr Brown's 11th Budget and as Labour's National Executive was meeting to decide a leadership contest timetable. It also coincided with a nerve-rattling 15-point Tory lead in the latest opinion poll.

Lord Turnbull worked closely with Mr Brown for four years as the Treasury permanent secretary before being promoted to Cabinet Secretary for three years. He said the Chancellor had a "very cynical view of mankind and his colleagues".

He went on: "He cannot allow them any serious discussion about priorities. His view is that it is just not worth it and 'they will get what I decide'.

"And that is a very insulting process."

He added: " Do those ends justify the means? It has enhanced Treasury control but at the expense of any Government cohesion and any assessment of strategy.

"You can choose whether you are impressed or depressed by that but you cannot help admire the sheer Stalinist ruthlessness of it all."

Sir Stephen Wall was even more brutal. He told BBC News 24: "I think the issue here is: 'Is Gordon Brown capable of operating with the trust and transparency that is necessary for good Cabinet government?'

"That has not been the way he has operated at the Treasury.

"I cannot recall a time - and I was a civil servant for 35 years, including during the Thatcher period, which was a pretty brutal period - when there has been such a lack of open communication between the Treasury and the rest of Whitehall, and that is not good for government."

Referring to the looming leadership election, he added: "I think the Labour Party has to weigh this up."

Mr Brown's inner circle declined to reply today, saying only that the remarks were "unworthy of a response".

But Labour allies responded with anger. Harriet Harman, a Brownite and Constitutional Affairs Minister, said she had worked closely with Mr Brown for 25 years. She said: "He does listen... I have always found him to be completely open. He is demanding of colleagues but he is demanding of himself."

In a barbed retort to Lord Turnbull she added: "I can only conclude that not all civil servants admire strong political leadership".-

Cabinet minister Hilary Armstrong dismissed the attack as "gossip".

But former Tory treasury minister Michael Portillo said it was clear that Mr Brown's "personality and qualities" had led the peer to be outraged.

The Chancellor's personality has been an issue since an unnamed Blair aide said he had "psychological flaws".

But Mr Brown seemed to be paying a price also for New Labour's centralised style of Government, led by Mr Blair.

Another former Cabinet secretary, Lord Wilson, spoke out for a BBC documentary being broadcast later this week, criticising Labour's political control over Whitehall.

He said: "It staged a coup first of all against the Labour Party and then against the processors of Government."

Lord Turnbull spoke to the Financial Times but later suggested he had thought his damaging remarks had been "off the record", that is, not for publication under his name.

Downing Street said it was well established that civil servants should show discretion, while Mr Brown's admirers were livid. Some suggested the peer was disgruntled because he had not been appointed by the Government to carry out important reviews on policy issues after his retirement.

Lord Turnbull was said to have asked Mr Blair to put him in charge of a review of the UK's needs for nuclear power.

Another source suggested that the FT interview must have been carried out "after a good lunch" because it was so intemperate. Ministers backing Mr Brown said Lord Turnbull's claims were out of date because the Chancellor had striven recently to involve his Cabinet colleagues in decisions.

One said: "It is unfair because Turnbull's experience of working with Gordon is years out of date. He worked in the Treasury when, as Chancellor, Gordon was conducting the most difficult spending negotiations and he had to impose his will and keep colleagues in the dark to keep a lid on spending for the long-term good.

"That is no guide to how Gordon would conduct himself as a Prime Minister. In fact, it is contradicted by the inclusive style he has shown in recent months."

Lord Turnbull cannot be dismissed easily however-because he worked closely with the Chancellor for four years before being promoted by Tony Blair to Cabinet Secretary in 2002. He retired in 2005.

In other comments to the FT, he said Mr Brown "belittles" ministers and civil servants by using outsiders in the policy-making process. He described as an "unworthy development" Mr Brown's practice of commissioning Treasury reviews on issues such as training, planning or housing supply.

"So if you want something done about planning or about the environment, you don't talk to Ruth Kelly or David Miliband and say 'we really must do something about this'. Instead you summon up Kate Barker or you get Andrew Gowers in to do intellectual property, rather than talk to the DTI."

Lord Turnbull scathingly compared the Chancellor to TS Eliot's Macavity: the Mystery Cat because he disappeared from the limelight when difficult decisions had to be taken. "The Chancellor has a Macavity quality," he said. "He is not there when there is dirty work to be done."

He added: "The surprising thing about the Treasury is the more or less complete contempt with which other colleagues are held."

Although Lord Turnbull praised the Chancellor's early decision to grant independence to the Bank of England, he noted that it helped shield him from being blamed for interest rate rises.